It looks like you are using an ad blocker. That's okay. Who doesn't? But without advertising revenue, we can't keep making this site awesome. Click the link below for instructions on disabling adblock.
Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post.
Register to become a member today!
I go to the University of Waterloo, Ontario Canada. It is a really new program our class will be the second class to graduate ever, and their is only 15 kids in my year so everyone knows everyone. Really sick program.
UND was just okay man...uber cold and yes the hockey team is real dope...I used to work line for the aviation school, refueling, de-icing etc. My first day at work it was -35 degrees, 30 mph winds and blowing snow...shits cold
I just checked out the ATP program at San Diego's Montgomery Field. Im pretty sure ill be heading there this summer for their fast track program...90 days all intensive training that gets me from where I am now to CFII and will prepare me to get an airline job...just putting it out there in case anyone is curious about this program.
I graduated last year with a Commercial Aviation Diploma (commercial multi ifr). I've got just over 300 hours, all of my flying has been in British Columbia, my dad has a share in a Piper Turbo Arrow that I fly when i visit. Working up in Yellowknife at the moment, waiting for a flying position to come up in the company.
it's a cool dream, but the actual percentage of people who SUCCEED in joining the air force and becoming fighter pilots is almost the same as winning the multi-million lottery - except instead of competing against j'mokes on the street, you're going against jacked, ultra-competitive, genius-level men and women who've dreamed of becoming fighter pilots since pre-natal development. to get a good idea of actually how difficult it is, take a watch of "speed and angels" on hulu.
HOWEVER, if you absolutely shit on calculus, physics, and scholastic endeavors overall... as my friend Woody says, REACH FOR THE SKIES!
Yeah I have debated joining the air force, but not as a fighter pilot. If I went in as a cargo pilot (as an officer after completing college) I would basically be guaranteed a spot as a cargo pilot, but as a fighter pilot, well lets just say the recruiter basically told me if I go in as an officer wanting to become a fighter pilot, I need a 4.0, but as a cargo pilot, generally aim for a 3.5 but 3.3's and up are usually accepted.
The only reason I'm probably not going to do it is the 10 year commitment, which after 4 years of college, by the time I'm out and actually being a commercial pilot like I want, I'll be 32 years old......
My cousin went into Air Force Academy to be a fighter pilot but instead is becoming a JAG Officer, he said he went up the first time in a fighter jet and basically blacked out. It's real extreme.
Here's a copy of an e-mail I got once: (Pictures did not copy but basically they show the plane he was in)
BANANAS & MILKDUDS
Below is an article written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated.
He details his experiences when given the opportunity to fly in an
F-14 Tomcat. If you aren't laughing out loud by the time you get
To 'Milk Duds,' your sense of humor is seriously broken.
This message is for America 's most famous athletes:
Someday you may be invited to fly in the back seat of one of your country's
most powerful fighter jets. Many of you already have. John Elway,
John Stockton, Tiger Woods, Tom Brown to name a few. If you get the opportunity,
let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity...Move to Guam.
Change your name.
Fake your own death!
Whatever you do,
Do Not Go!!!
I know.
The U.S. Navy invited me to try it?? I was thrilled. I was pumped.
I was toast! I should've known when they told me my pilot would
be Chip (Biff) King of Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station
Oceana in Virginia Beach.
Whatever you're thinking a Top Gun named Chip (Biff) King looks
like, triple it. He's about six-foot, tan, ice-blue eyes, wavy surfer hair,
finger-crippling handshake -- the kind of man who wrestles
dyspeptic alligators in his leisure time. If you see this man, run the
other way. Fast.
Biff King was born to fly. His father, Jack King, was for years the
voice of NASA missions. ('T-minus 15 seconds and counting'. Remember?)
Chip would charge neighborhood kids a quarter each to hear his dad.
Jack would wake up from naps surrounded by nine-year-olds waiting
for him to say, 'We have liftoff.'
Biff was to fly me in an F-14D Tomcat, a ridiculously powerful $60 million
weapon with nearly as much thrust as weight, not unlike Colin Montgomerie.
I was worried about getting airsick, so the night before the flight I asked
Biff if there was something I should eat the next morning.
'Bananas,' he said.
'For the potassium?' I asked.
'No,' Biff said, 'because they taste about the same coming up
as they do going down.'
The next morning, out on the tarmac, I had on my flight suit with my name
sewn over the left breast. (No call sign -- like Crash or Sticky or Leadfoot.
But, still, very cool.) I carried my helmet in the crook of my arm, as Biff had
instructed. If ever in my life I had a chance to nail Nicole Kidman, this was it.
A fighter pilot named Psycho gave me a safety briefing and then fastened
me into my ejection seat which, when employed, would 'egress' me out
of the plane at such a velocity that I would be immediately knocked
unconscious.
Just as I was thinking about aborting the flight, the canopy closed over me
and Biff gave the ground crew a thumbs-up. In minutes we were firing nose
up at 600 mph. We leveled out and then canopy-rolled over another F-14.
Those 20 minutes were the rush of my life. Unfortunately, the ride lasted 80.
It was like being on the roller coaster at Six Flags Over Hell. Only without rails.
We did barrel rolls, snap rolls, loops, yanks and banks. We dived, rose and
dived again, sometimes with a vertical velocity of 10,000 feet per minute.
We chased another F-14, and it chased us.
We broke the speed of sound??Sea was sky and sky was sea. Flying at
200 feet we did 90-degree turns at 550 mph, creating a G force of 6.5,
which is to say I felt as if 6.5 times my body weight was smashing
against me, thereby approximating life as Mrs. Colin Montgomerie.
And I egressed the bananas.
And I egressed the pizza from the night before.
And the lunch before that.
I egressed a box of Milk Duds from the sixth grade.
I made Linda Blair look polite. Because of the G's, I was egressing
stuff that I never thought would be egressed.
I went through not one airsick bag, but two.
Biff said I passed out. Twice. I was coated in sweat. At one point,
as we were coming in upside down in a banked curve on a mock
bombing target and the G's were flattening me like a tortilla and I
was in and out of consciousness, I realized I was the first person
in history to throw down.
I used to know 'cool.' Cool was Elway throwing a touchdown pass,
or Norman making a five-iron bite. But now I really know 'cool.'
Cool is guys like Biff, men with cast-iron stomachs and freon nerves.
I wouldn't go up there again for Derek Jeter's black book, but I'm
glad Biff does every day, and for less a year than a rookie reliever
makes in a home stand.
A week later, when the spins finally stopped, Biff called. He said
he and the fighters had the perfect call sign for me. Said he'd
send it on a patch for my flight suit.
I also looked into the Air Force but I have what they call double elevator palsy in my left eye. Its not a disqualifier for getting my first class medical for a commercial certificate, but it is for the Air Force...even the smallest medical anomaly will not allow you to fly in the service...hence my career choice to become a commercial/buisness pilot
nice dude, i fly out of dxr. had a beech skipper, now fly a remos gx, lots of seaplane time in a 185 and even some time in a falcon 10. have my student right now and took the written test last spring, just need a few more hours for my checkride. been to oxc many times doing touch n go's and flying the pattern. my dad flys a few falcons out of there. and the corridor is by far the best place around to fly, especially in a falcon. and landing 35 at danbury isn't too bad either haha. ever been to candlelight farms in sherman/ new milford? its just a little grass strip
Looking into Royal Australian Air Force, bailed out at last minute due to wanting to take a gap year etc. Have applied for a Civil Aviation course, hopfuly make a career out of it, so long as i dont get caught up and develop a powder addiction over the next year.....
Its cool that there are so many of you on here. I started flying like, 3 years ago. I've got my commercial, but i still need my ifr and multi, and the other half of my business diploma. I ran out of money and had to quit tho. But im going to just fill my down time with lots of skiing until i can afford to go back and finish up. Flying is so amazing, especially if you get to train in the mountains.
Honestly I've been debating going to school for becoming a pilot. My buddy's Dad does it, he's a captain for United and flies overseas like six times a month. He makes a lot of money!
Charlie_KellyCommercial or AF? Im
curious what the job market will be like these next couple years. Things were looking amazing before Covid
I instruct in the F-16 in the Air Force, about to move into the F-35.
With no experience, you have a long road ahead of you on the commercial side. It will take years for people to fly at the rates they were last year and people with 20 years of experience flying fighters can't get hired right now. Airlines are operating within weeks of bankruptcy at this point. If you want to prepare for that kind of road, Air Force is a good way to go if it suits/interests you. Your other option would be to grind through regionals if you can find a job, but they don't pay well. Don't forget about Guard/Reserve opportunities if you aren't interested in committing to military full time but want to fly.
Dustin.I instruct in the F-16 in the Air Force, about to move into the F-35.
With no experience, you have a long road ahead of you on the commercial side. It will take years for people to fly at the rates they were last year and people with 20 years of experience flying fighters can't get hired right now. Airlines are operating within weeks of bankruptcy at this point. If you want to prepare for that kind of road, Air Force is a good way to go if it suits/interests you. Your other option would be to grind through regionals if you can find a job, but they don't pay well. Don't forget about Guard/Reserve opportunities if you aren't interested in committing to military full time but want to fly.
I’ve toyed with the idea of AF or Marines, but idealistically it doesn’t fit for me right now. National Guard will always remain in my back pocket. I know it’s a long road, my plan was to get my private, then join a local club while I work on my instrument, multi, and conmercial license. Then be a CFI with another part time job to build hours.
I know before all this shit went down regionals we’re picking guys up as soon as they hit their 500 hour mark (I believe) but who knows now. I’m willing to grind for a few years, I knew that going into it and starting this late, but COVID is rapidly changing the market so idk what will happen now.
Charlie_KellyI’ve toyed with the idea of AF or Marines, but idealistically it doesn’t fit for me right now. National Guard will always remain in my back pocket. I know it’s a long road, my plan was to get my private, then join a local club while I work on my instrument, multi, and conmercial license. Then be a CFI with another part time job to build hours.
I know before all this shit went down regionals we’re picking guys up as soon as they hit their 500 hour mark (I believe) but who knows now. I’m willing to grind for a few years, I knew that going into it and starting this late, but COVID is rapidly changing the market so idk what will happen now.
Fastest route to a real airline or big cargo company kind of job is through the Guard/Reserve sponsoring you to go to pilot training. It's also the cheapest. I would advise against Marine aviation since I fly with several Marines and literally all of them are trying to go Air Force Reserve. Going Marines is not the path for a side job, it's for those who primarily want to serve and endure the suck a bit (which is also fine if that's for you).
Dustin.Fastest route to a real airline or big cargo company kind of job is through the Guard/Reserve sponsoring you to go to pilot training. It's also the cheapest. I would advise against Marine aviation since I fly with several Marines and literally all of them are trying to go Air Force Reserve. Going Marines is not the path for a side job, it's for those who primarily want to serve and endure the suck a bit (which is also fine if that's for you).
Let’s say hypothetically I join after getting my private license, would that count towards anything?
Charlie_KellyLet’s say hypothetically I join after getting my private license, would that count towards anything?
To be 100% frank, what you will learn in military pilot training is far beyond anything you will do in the civilian sector. You solo in the first month in a T-6, you get your instrument rating in that airplane, you learn to lead formations and do barrel rolls while holding position feet from another airplane. You would surpass what you learned in you PPL in days, and no one would care that you had it. Even CFII and prior airline guys don't always end up #1 in the class (though they typically do well since they have experience).
That being said, any time in the air is valuable and it won't at all hurt anything but your checking account to continue learning. If you are serious about a career in aviation, the military needs pilots badly and the flying you have the opportunity to do is like nothing anyone in civilian flying can even imagine if you go fighters. Imagine describing Whistler Bike Park to the kid who rides on training wheels around the block, it's just something you can't imagine unless you do it for years and get to see it all.
You can also fly helicopters if that interests you. Definitely not as good of job prospects as going fixed wing, but man that looks fun too!
That last person I mentored from Newschoolers on aviation is flying F-35's out of the Salt Lake area now, it's a real thing if you are willing to work for it. Just don't go to a recruiter or any of that, they don't know what the hell they are talking about. Where are you from? There are likely some guard units nearby that you could rush if they suit you.
Dustin.To be 100% frank, what you will learn in military pilot training is far beyond anything you will do in the civilian sector. You solo in the first month in a T-6, you get your instrument rating in that airplane, you learn to lead formations and do barrel rolls while holding position feet from another airplane. You would surpass what you learned in you PPL in days, and no one would care that you had it. Even CFII and prior airline guys don't always end up #1 in the class (though they typically do well since they have experience).
That being said, any time in the air is valuable and it won't at all hurt anything but your checking account to continue learning. If you are serious about a career in aviation, the military needs pilots badly and the flying you have the opportunity to do is like nothing anyone in civilian flying can even imagine if you go fighters. Imagine describing Whistler Bike Park to the kid who rides on training wheels around the block, it's just something you can't imagine unless you do it for years and get to see it all.
You can also fly helicopters if that interests you. Definitely not as good of job prospects as going fixed wing, but man that looks fun too!
That last person I mentored from Newschoolers on aviation is flying F-35's out of the Salt Lake area now, it's a real thing if you are willing to work for it. Just don't go to a recruiter or any of that, they don't know what the hell they are talking about. Where are you from? There are likely some guard units nearby that you could rush if they suit you.
I was always under the impression that to become a fighter pilot you needed to be groomed basically from HS onward. Great grades, letter of recommendation from the governor, etc. Im
turning 28 in June, I feel like I’m a little past my prime to start. Plus I’d need ROTC training correct?
No interest in flying something that naturally wants to fall out of the sky, so fixed wing is my
only focus. Wouldn’t mind flying C-130’s or C-17’s.
Is there more or less flexibility with the military/guard? I’m pretty established where I am so moving would be somewhat of a challenge (not saying it’s something I’m adverse to)
Charlie_KellyI was always under the impression that to become a fighter pilot you needed to be groomed basically from HS onward. Great grades, letter of recommendation from the governor, etc. Im
turning 28 in June, I feel like I’m a little past my prime to start. Plus I’d need ROTC training correct?
No interest in flying something that naturally wants to fall out of the sky, so fixed wing is my
only focus. Wouldn’t mind flying C-130’s or C-17’s.
Is there more or less flexibility with the military/guard? I’m pretty established where I am so moving would be somewhat of a challenge (not saying it’s something I’m adverse to)
In the Guard or Reserve, you can work part time without moving. Active duty is going to move you a lot, sounds like it's not for you. You are crossing the streams with the how-to-become-a-fighter-pilot thing and ROTC/Service Academies. You need a college degree and to be an officer. If a Guard unit hired you off the street for example, they'd send you to Officer Training School, then Pilot Training, then to train in your aircraft, then you'd go to your guard unit and live out the rest of your career.
Service Academy appointments require Congressional or Presidential nominations, those academies and ROTC are streamlined for getting people to pilot training but I know plenty of guys who went to OTS.
If I were you I'd look into guard units near you and see if any of them would be a good fit. If so, it can't hurt to go talk to those guys and see if it's right for you. Half of them are probably part time airline pilots and can at least help you with your vector.
Dustin.I instruct in the F-16 in the Air Force, about to move into the F-35.
chill bro no need to flex so hard jeez.
that's the coolest thing ive ever read on this website.
I want to do my ppl but I don't know if it would be worth it for me right now since I don't plan on making a carreer out of flying.
my dad has a t210 and my brother is an instructor though so that would cut the costs considerably. i'll get to it someday
Dustin.That's legit man! What are you doing specifically?
The airline I work for has contracts with various organizations and governments for Antarctic work. It's mostly science based - putting in remote field camps, bringing technicians to sites for equipment maintenance, resupply, fuel caching, surveys, tourism, and digging, lots of digging.
In the Arctic, we have 3 bases for charters, scheds, medevac, along with more science and tourism based contracts.
Been one hell of a gig for the past 5 years.
jcaThe airline I work for has contracts with various organizations and governments for Antarctic work. It's mostly science based - putting in remote field camps, bringing technicians to sites for equipment maintenance, resupply, fuel caching, surveys, tourism, and digging, lots of digging.
In the Arctic, we have 3 bases for charters, scheds, medevac, along with more science and tourism based contracts.
Been one hell of a gig for the past 5 years.
I'd love to check that out, that would be a cool spot to go rage around.
Dustin.I'd love to check that out, that would be a cool spot to go rage around.
If you ever get bored of going fast and pulling Gs, the NY ANG usually has 5 or 6 LC-130s on skis in McMurdo. Some of the crews even get along with us Canadian pilots haha
